An example of the variant suffixes -ica and -ka in feminatives derived from masculine words ending in -or and -ator
The article examines feminatives as a semantic and word-formation category. In Slavic languages feminatives are mainly regarded as modificational derivatives formed from masculine derivatives by the whole replacement of the masculine suffix (bor-(-ec/-kа), partial replacement of the masculi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute for the Serbian Language, Belgrade
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Južnoslovenski Filolog |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-185X/2023/0350-185X2301029S.pdf |
| Summary: | The article examines feminatives as a semantic and word-formation category.
In Slavic languages feminatives are mainly regarded as modificational
derivatives formed from masculine derivatives by the whole replacement of
the masculine suffix (bor-(-ec/-kа), partial replacement of the masculine
suffix (bra-l/(-ec/-ka), or by adding the feminine suffix to the masculine
suffix (miz-ar/-ka). Due to the expansion of global communication through
mass media, the inevitable broadening of vocabulary requires the adaptation
of borrowed words to the morphemic, morphological and word-formation
paradigms of the borrowing language. As a consequence, it comes as no
surprise that feminatives formed from the same masculine base often have two
or more variants of feminine suffixes (dekan-ica - dekan-ka - dekan-ja).
Three examples of variant feminine suffixes -ica and -ka added to masculine
nouns ending in suffixes -or and -ator, which are of foreign origin, are
examined in this paper. The purpose of the study is to establish which of
the feminine suffixes are more productive and how they conform to the
established patterns. The examined cases of masculine formations using the
borrowed suffixes -or and its variant -ator (in addition to -tor, -itor and
-utor) in the semantic category of living beings show variability in
languages such as Slovene, Serbian and Slovakian, which are dependent on the
existence of an appropriate nominal or verbal base in the language. In
Slovene, such formations are consistently deverbal, while in Serbian and
Slovakian they are either denominal or deverbal. The study focuses on three
masculine formations koordinator, selektor and senator, and examines how
their suffixes combine with the feminine suffix variants (-ka and -ica).
The established pattern in Slovene predicts that masculine formations in
-ator will form feminatives by adding the suffix -ka, while masculine
formations in -or will form feminatives by adding the suffix -ica. In the
example of the words koordinator- ka (from koordin-ator) and selektor-ica
(from selekt-or), the usage confirms this pattern. However, there is a
deviation from this pattern in the example of senatorka (from senat-or),
where the feminative senator-ica would be predicted. The study offers a
possible answer to the question of such deviations from the predictable
patterns in contrast to the actual use of feminative suffixes. It is clear
that language users are guided by different analogies when they form words.
Although these analogies may not be linguistically supported, they are
important in motivating the formation of many new words, especially those
from borrowed bases. The language user depends on the recognition of the
formal structure of the word to be able to choose a predictable
word-formation pattern. In borrowed words, such formal structure is less
clear, since it is based on foreign word-formation patterns with foreign
root and derivational morphemes. |
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| ISSN: | 0350-185X 2406-0763 |